Star Ledger: 6 murders in a week: How Newark is responding to summer homicide surge

NEWARK — Six killings in as many days last week left Newark city officials searching for a response. To help curb the rising death toll, Newark Police Department Director Eugene Venable emptied the cupboard, reassigning over 100 administrative department officers from desk to street duty.

Despite the killings, Venable and other city officials vouch for Newark as a safe city. With the exception of shootings and rape, overall crime is down, Venable said in a Aug. 21 interview with NJ Advance Media. And the decision to temporarily reassign administrative officers was less about fighting crime than combating the perception that violent crime is on the rise in the state’s largest city, he said…